Day 5 - January 9
My friend Linda said yesterday that Lucky sent Foxy to us. On the morning that we met Foxy he was with a dog that looked like Lucky. He looked at me with wise knowing eyes and never made a move, not even to approach us. He just watched as Foxy came over and left town with us. with us.. Who knows…
While the team loves foxy, we have to be realistic. The United States through the CDC instituted a ban on June 14, 2021 of any dogs from Brazil as the country has been designated as high rabies risk. This did not exist in 2018 when Lucky came to the US.. Whether we can get him out or not, everyone on the team is committed to finding him a good home. .
Last night after we showered and rested a bit we all walked down to the plaza. We found a nice little pizzeria that serves freezingly cold draft beers and pizza served by three energetic young Brazilian ladies who were trying to work on their English. It seems that in Brazil pizzerias think the more ingredients you put on a pizza the better it must be. And so, we tried a new tack, I told him we would like one white pizza with broccoli, onion, and garlic because Amy is vegetarian, and the other we wiould try their special pie. The white pizza was delicious and we tasted the crust which was really well done. The other pie came with cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese - can’t imagine who thought of that - pepperoni, ham, bacon, and God knows what else. It was total overload and we couldn’t even taste the delicious crust. After the check the waitresses asked if we could take a photo and on the way to the front of the restaurant they taught us “Chana no conte” Which is a thing in Brazil and if interested, you can see in the last video in Day 4.
We broke camp this morning from Hotel David, in Arceborger, asmall village with the typical central plaza surrounding the church. An elderly woman who we presume is the owner, would not allow foxy in the hotel. She referred us to a dog sitter and the guys took Foxy to the woman’s house. She fell in love with him and did not want to charge us for the overnight stay. The next morning the guys came over to pick him up and offered to pay again but instead she told them to offer a prayer at the end of the journey at the Basillica in Aparecida for her.
In the town of Taritiba we came to a bakery but learned that one of the employees had Covid recently so we did not go in and instead set up some chairs on the cobblestone street. A very old broken down car pulled up with six people inside and a woman looked out at us from the window and said sheepishly could she take a picture with the Americans? We were happy to oblige and she brought her infant daughter and stood behind us. An elderly woman got out of the back seat and walked over wanting to be part of the picture and we assumed it was her mother. We learned that they are farmworkers and by the looks of it I living a very hard life. Amy brought bags of gifts for Brazilian kids and she gave the little girl a doll. The little girl lost her shyness and said in her small voice, thank you and then gave Amy a kiss. We also happened to have bought a lot of takeout food from a buffet and the guys decided to give them 3 big containers of food and a bottle of Guarana. They all were very happy.
We saw Foxy get hit by a car he was chasing. Today we watched him go after a bull and then get kicked by its rear hoof so that Foxy looked like he was launched from a canon. We are wondering if attacking or defending us from cars is a habit he will ever break and now the cattle behavior as well.
In addition to eating a days old dead bird, we watched him eat a dead snake today.
5th day is complete, 5th day of rain with no change in sight. Our bodies are feeling solid and managing the feet for blisters is the key to success.
All for today, thank you for your support
Cheers,
David.
Picking up at the babysitters
Naptime on the way from the babysitters to the trail
Almost time to meet up on the trail with Caique
Everything is so lush that even when some thing does something else grows
Our final stop at Caconde
